Asks if possible to track computer.
He started tracking computer viruses as a side project in 1989, after his work PC was infected with one.
Investigators determined that several of the Web sites Mr. Deutch visited left markers on his computers -- known as "cookies" -- that allow companies to track computer usage.
Ms. Person Burns is one of a growing number of consumers who are taking legal action against companies that track computer users' activity on the Internet.
Worries over Internet privacy have spurred lawsuits, conspiracy theories and consumer anxiety as marketers and others invent new ways to track computer users on the Internet.
While Dr. Crooker spent most of his afternoon tracking computer data, scientists at Columbia University's seismic station in Palisades, N.Y., labored with uncommon urgency.
Dr. Junglas and others are developing Wi-Fi networks that not only track computer users but also adjust what the computers are doing to suit the circumstances.
Mr. Watson said a report several years ago by Gartner, a technology researcher, found that only 30percentt of Fortune 500 companies had advanced systems to track computer equipment.
One fan is Brian McIlrath, an asset management coordinator at Unisys who uses AMI's AssetTrack software to track computer equipment at a consumer products company.
A24 Tracking Software Dropped The White House, conceding that federal privacy guidelines might have been violated, ordered its drug control policy office to stop using software that tracks computer users who view federal antidrug ads.
On the topic of new threats, the CERT Coordination Center (www.cert.org), which tracks computer viruses and security alerts, posted information about a fast-spreading new worm called Nimda on Sept. 18.
